wwdc2012

Apple shows smarter Siri, new MacBooks

Today's show has Mountain Lions, MacBooks and Siri, oh my!

Apple news overload at Monday's WWDC keynote presentation. Here's a quick summary of what you need to know.

Apple's next mobile software, iOS 6, will bring a few changes this Fall, including:

Video chatting on Facetime will be available on a cellular network, so no more Wi-Fi restrictions. Apple is launching its own Maps app with a 3D mode, called Flyover. It'll also have turn-by-turn directions, alert users to traffic issues and re-route accordingly. You can also ask Siri for directions. Siri is getting several upgrades, … Read more

What Siri's 'Eyes Free' feature means for cars

One of the newest Siri features isn't for the iPhone, but for vehicles that will integrate this natural language voice command service.

Apple announced today at its annual developer's conference, WWDC 2012, that several automakers have signed on to implement Siri's "Eyes Free" feature in their vehicles. BMW, General Motors, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, and Audi will enable drivers to integrate Siri with their vehicle's electronics system, and access the mobile assistant using a steering wheel button.

From the photo shown during the keynote address, it appears Siri--or Siri-like technology--could get its own button on … Read more

How to prepare your Mac for Mountain Lion

In Apple's keynote address at the WWDC 2012 conference, developers received a "near final" developer preview of Apple's upcoming Mountain Lion OS to test their apps before the OS is released in July. As the release date for Mountain Lion draws nearer, Mac users have wondered what the requirements are for the upgrade and what they should do to prepare for it.

Apple has yet to release detailed specifications on the system requirements for Mountain Lion; however, specifications from its developer releases have suggested that most Intel-based Macs should be able to run the OS, provided … Read more

Apple's Retina Display MacBook Pro under glass

SAN FRANCISCO--The new Retina Display Macbook Pro made its debut at Moscone Center and drew a large crowd of fans, positioning their iPhones to snap pictures of the newest member of the Mac family. It was like a crowd ogling the Hope Diamond under impenetrable plexiglass at the Smithsonian or the stars walking the Hollywood red carpet at the Oscars.

It's part of Apple's magic stage act, which can make ordinary products look extraordinary and extraordinary products appear as works of other-worldly artistic and technical wizardry. With Tim Cook and his lieutenants taking over where Steve Jobs left … Read more

How to get the best deal on a previous-generation MacBook

Today might just be the perfect day to start shopping for a new MacBook.

And by "new" I mean "old." At today's WWDC, Apple announced new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, meaning there's soon to be a glut of previous-generation systems -- new, used, and refurbished alike.

The question is, where can you score the best deals? Yesterday's MacBooks are already gone from the Apple Store, so don't expect any bargains there (with one exception -- see below). But if you know where to look, you might just be able to … Read more

What iOS 6 tells us about the next iPhone

Apple's WWDC may not have resulted in an iPhone announcement, but it provided the next best thing: a detailed look at iOS 6.

It doesn't come out until the fall, and will only work on the iPhone 3GS and models after that, but a lot of iOS 6 features will be welcomed by any iPhone owner.

New versions of mobile software (be it iOS or Android) can often be as feature-packed and exciting as new phone models, and frequently kick a lot of new value down to older hardware.

The question is, can we look into the new features of iOS 6 to peer upstream at what Apple's next iPhone might be like? I'll try. Here are my best guesses.… Read more

Apple kills 17-inch MacBook Pro

More than nine years after Apple created the first one, Apple's unceremoniously removed its 17-inch laptop from its lineup, announcing just 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros and the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display at WWDC 2012.

And it's likely that no one will ever miss it. … Read more

Will Apple's FaceTime app hog your data plan?

Apple's FaceTime video chat service will finally work over a carrier's cellular network, making it even easier for people to make video phone calls from anywhere. But will the new app gobble up bandwidth on capped data plans?

Since it was introduced in 2010 with the release of the iPhone 4, the FaceTime video chat application, which allows people with iOS devices to call each other over video, only worked on Wi-Fi networks. The reason given at the time for the limitation was that carriers like AT&T were afraid of what FaceTime would do to their … Read more

Apple desktops get (almost) no love at WWDC

Apple desktop fans were disappointed at today's World Wide Developer Conference, where, despite persistent rumors, Apple's iMac and Mac Pro lines went unmentioned during the keynote presentation.

When the Apple store came back online after the show, a "New" tag on the Mac Pro hinted at a stealth update. Glancing over the specs for the supposedly new system turned up only a clock speed bump to a few of the available Xeon processors.

Rather than the quad-core, 2.8GHz Intel Xeon W3530 chip, for example, now the $2,499 Mac Pro starts with a 3.2GHz … Read more